Ironing device for hat brim



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United States Patent fifice 2,842,297 Patented July 8, 1958 IRONING DEVICE FOR HAT BRIM Robert Friedman, Bethe], Conn., assignor to Doran Brothers, Incorporated, Danbury, Conn.

Application September 29, 1954, Serial No. 459,019

6 Claims. (Cl. 223-21) This invention relates to an improvement in irons used for ironing the brims of felt hats. More particularly it contemplates an improved construction for properly positioning the hat brim with respect to the ironing elements to avoid hat damage.

One object of this invention is to provide an ironing device which is simple and durable in construction, economical in manufacture and yet may be used with facility to iron the curled edges of hat brims. Another object of this invention is to provide an ironing device of the above character capable of guiding the curled edge of a hat brim between the ironing elements with ease to permit ironing without wrinkling. A further object is to provide an ironing device of the above character capable of guiding the felted welt edge on a hat brim to a groove in the ironing element prior to ironing, in order to iron the brim without wrinkling. Still another object is to provide an ironing device of the above character which may be used by unskilled and careless labor for ironinghat brims without prohibitive hat damage. Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

Earlier ironing devices of this general type were very difiicult to use on curled hat brims, especially those having so-called felted welt edges, because the edges of the brim frequently became wrinkled and disfigured during ironing. Despite care during brim insertion improper location and rumpling' were prevalent, and, once inserted, the user could not see the condition of the brim. Subsequent ironing was the only method of testing the brim position and this often resulted in damage. Accordingly, it is a further object of this invention to device which will overcome these basic deficiencies.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the construction ironing member is curved, being semi-cylindrical (Figure 2) and crescent shaped (Figure 4), and a longitudinal groove 18 for receiving the felted welt edge of a hat brim is formed therein. A movable ironing member generally indicated at 20 is pivotally supported on fixed ironing member 10 and is so shaped and positioned that it can pivot from the broken line of Figure 3 to the full line position of Figure 2. This movable ironing element has an ironing surface 24 which is convex in shape as can be seen in Figure 3 and crescent shaped as seen in Figure 4. Accordingly,. a felted welt-edged hat brim may be inserted between surfaces 16 and 24 of the ironing members as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 3 with its felted welt edge 22a adjacent and immediately below groove 18. As will be described more fully later, when the movable ironing member 20 moves from the broken line to full line position it feeds the brim along surface 16 and the felted welt edge 22a into groove 18. Such movement will occur usually when the iron is placed on a flat surface such as the top of an ironing table. Accord- 1 ingly when the movable ironing element reaches its seated or full line position (Figure 3) the brim of the hat smooth- 1y fits between the two ironing members with no wrinkles and ironing may be accomplished with ease and without hat damage.

More particularly as can be seen in Figure l, the handle 14 includes a bracket member 26 having a'horizontal portion 26a secured to the top of ironing member 10 by screws 28. A holding element 29 which may take any convenient shape is secured to the ends 26b and 260 of bracket member 26 by a bolt 30. Heating element 12 may take any suitable construction and it is mounted in a longitudinal bore 31 (Figure 3) sufliciently close to ironing surface 16 of member 10 to maintain such surface at the desired ironing temperature. This heating element is held in such position by a set screw 32. An

' electric cord, connected to heating element 12, extends provide an ironing hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims to follow; for a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invent-ion, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a rear elevation of the ironing device,

Figure 2 is an end elevation of the ironing device,

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 1, and

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawing.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, this ironing device may be generally described by reference to Figures 3 and 4, wherein a fixed ironing member generally indicated at 10 is shown, in which there is a heating element, generally indicated at 12, of conventional design. A handle, generally indicated at 14, is attached to this fixed ironing member. The ironing surface 16 of the fixed from the ironing member as can be seen in Figure 1 and is threaded through a holding device 36 secured to bracket member 26 of the handle 14 by screws 38; thus the holding device 36 suspends the cord 34 above the work during operation.

As will be apparent from Figures 1, 2 and 3, ironing member 10 includes a back surface 10a to which a U- shaped holding piece 40 is secured by screws 42. Legs 40a and 40b depend from holding piece 40 and the movable ironing element 20 is pivotally mounted therebetween on studs 44 and 46. More particularly, as will be apparent from Figures 1, 2 and 3, the movable ironing member 20 includes channels 48 and 50 shaped to interfit with depending legs 40a and 40b and the studs 44 and 46 extend through the leg portions and into the main body portion of the ironing member to support the ironing member 20 in ironing member 10.

Still referring to Figures 2 and 3, the fixed ironing member 10 has a fiat top surface 52 adjacent a similar surface 54 on movable ironing member 20. When the movable ironing member 20 is in its closed or ironing position these surfaces 52 and 54 are substantially parallel their exact relation being determined by a set screw 56 threaded in the body portion of ironing member 10 and held in adjusted position by a locknut 58. Thus set screw 56 may be adjusted to any desired position all depending upon the thickness of the brim and felted welt edge of the particular hat beingironed. Furthermore, ironing surfaces 16 and 24 are so shaped and positioned that dur ing closing of the movable ironing member 20 the space therebetween is slightly wedge shaped. This assures a wedging action therebetween to feed the hat brim upwardly and assure that the welt edge 22a of a hat to be ironed reaches proper ironing position. The final position of the parts will of course be determined by the setting 22a firmly into the groove 18 of ironing member It) leaving the hat brim resting smoothly between the ironing surfaces. Surface 52 of ironing member has a relieved surface 52a (Figure 3) to allow the movable member to drop down to the dotted line position for hat insertion.

As has been described above, ironing surfaces 16 and 24 are shaped to interfit thereby supporting the hat in non-wrinkled position therebetween. More specifically, both of these surfaces are crescent shaped as indicated in Figure 4 and they are also semi-cylindrical, as shown in Figures 2 and 3. Thus these ironing surfaces are shaped to correspond with the curl of a brim of a hat and also with the generally circular shape of the edge of a hat brim. It will of course be apparent that the groove 18 takes on a shape correspondingly similar to the surface 16 and 24.

In use the hat brim 22 with a felted welt edge 22a (Figure 3) is inserted between the surfaces 16 and 24 as indicated by the dotted line showing in Figure 3 with the movable ironing member 29 in its open or broken line position. Ironing member 20 is then swung to its full line closed position preferably by placing the iron on the ironing table. Thus the felted Welt edge 22a is fed into groove 18, and the hat brim is smoothly and securely held in curved parallelism between surfaces 16 and 24. The operator then proceeds to iron the hat brim in conventional fashion. Upon completion he merely lifts the iron, releasing ironing member 20 which falls to its open position releasing the hat.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description are eificiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1, In an ironing device for bat brims, the combination of a main ironing member having a semi-cylindrically shaped ironing surface with a groove for receiving the felted welt edge of a hat brim formed therein, a U-sbaped holding piece connected to said main ironing member, a second ironing member having a concave surface shaped to interfit with said first mentioned ironing surface, means for pivotally attaching said second ironing member to the dependent legs of said U-s haped holding piece, whereby said second ironing member may pivot to a closed position, said ironing surfaces being so shaped that when said second ironing member pivots to said closed position, the felted welt edge of a hat brim inserted therebetween will be urged into said groove, and the remainder of the hat brim will be urged into ironing position, said surfaces 4 further being shaped to support the hat brim therebetween without wrinkling in the closed position, and a set screw for adjustment of said closed position of said second ironing member to control the relative positions of said ironing surfaces in said closed position.

2. In a hand iron for hat brims, the combination of a main ironing member having an ironing surface which is substantially semi-circular in vertical cross section, a second ironing member pivotally attached to said main ironing member, said second ironing member having an ironing surface which is concave in vertical cross section and is shaped to interfit with a substantial portion of the semi-circularly shaped ironing surface of said main ironing member, means limiting the movement of said second ironing member about said pivot between a closed position at which a substantial portion of said ironing surface of said main ironing member and the concave surface of said second ironing member are in closely spaced parallel relation, and an open position at which the ironing surface of said main ironing member and the concave surface of said second ironing member form a wedge-shaped opening therebetween, said pivot causing said wedgeshaped opening to change to a closely spaced parallel opening as said second ironing member rotates about said pivot from its open to its closed position, thereby feeding a hat brim inserted into said wedge-shaped opening when in the open position laterally into ironing position between said ironing surfaces as said second ironing member moves to the closed position.

3. The combination defined in claim 2 in which the ironing surface of said main ironing member has a longitudinal groove for receiving the welt edge of a hat brim formed therein in the portion'opposed by the concave ironing surface of said second ironing member.

4. The combination defined in claim 2 in which said ironing surfaces are arcuately shaped in horizontal cross section.

5. The combination defined in claim 2 in which the ironing surface of said main ironing member has a longitudinal groove for receiving the welt edge of a hat brim formed therein in the portion opposed by the concave ironing surface of said second ironing member and in which said ironing surfaces are arcuately shaped in horizontal cross section.

6. The combination defined in claim 2 which includes means for adjusting the closed position of said second ironing member to control the relative positions of said ironing surfaces in said closed position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,604,135 Reynolds Oct. 26, 1926 1,932,312 Hobgood Oct. 24, 1933 2,178,111 Stack Oct. 31, 1939 2,295,230 Miller Sept. 8, 1942 

